The largest gathering of white supremacists on American soil in over a decade was ostensibly to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, enshrined in bronze on horseback in the city’s Emancipation Park.

Three people died - one 32-year-old woman, who was hit when a car ploughed into a crowd and two state troopers, whose helicopter crashed outside the city while responding to the situation ― and at least 35 others were injured in the Virginia city on Saturday.

Kessler denied he was in any way responsible for events and instead blamed police for suppressing the right to free speech.